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If the sun always shines on TV (as A-Ha once proclaimed), the telegenic men of O-Town are enjoying an endless summer.
Following their birth on the weekly series "Making the Band," the fivesome — Ashley Parker Angel, Erik-Michael Estrada, Dan Miller, Trevor Penick and Jacob Underwood — perplexed naysayers and beat Vegas odds when their first LP debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200. In good company at Clive Davis' J Records house of hits (alongside labelmates such as Alicia Keys) the guys have, among other things, a tour with Britney Spears and a third season of "Making the Band" to keep them looking on the bright side this fall.
O-Town's Ashley (blond, Leo) and Jacob (auburn, Taurus) talked to Curtis Waller about what's in store on the small screen, their plans for their second album and why their fans are the best a band could ever ask for.
MTV: Looking back at how you got started on "Making the Band," did you think you would be having this kind of success? Ashley Parker Angel: Man, when we think back about when we first embarked on this journey, I guess you would say it's kinda funny, 'cause we had a lot in our favor. The ball was in our court, 'cause we had a TV show, but there were a lot of different battles we had to fight. Fortunately, I think, we've been able to turn some heads because of Clive Davis and because of the songs that have been on the radio that have done well. Honestly, we owe it to our faithful, loyal fans who have been there from the very beginning. We owe it to Clive Davis, because when he came in, he brought a level of respect to the group and credibility. Things are rolling.
MTV: Since you started off on TV and have put out an album, are you guys thinking about venturing off into film, either as a group or as individuals?
Ashley: All of us in the group have things that we would like to do at some point. As a group, we're focused on music right now. We're focused on touring right now. We're not really focused on any other avenues of entertainment like film or anything like that, 'cause right now we're filming a third season of the television show, so we've got that to worry about. We want to show hopefully a different side of things that people haven't seen in the first two seasons. That's going to take up a lot of our time, and we've got the Britney Spears tour. Down the road there'll probably be things that different ones of us will experiment with, but for right now all of our focus is on the group.
MTV: You released your album in January, and with "We Fit Together" getting a good reception right now, do you think there's another single left in the album?
Jacob Underwood: Yeah, we feel strongly about songs like "Love Should Be a Crime" and "Girl," but we're gonna wait and see how "We Fit Together" is doing. It's still on its up-climb. We started writing for the second album, and that's in our sights now. We're going to try to start writing and recording while we're out with Britney.
MTV: Do you guys have a studio that you take along with you, or do you see yourself doing recording in different towns while you travel?
Jacob: We actually write a lot when we're on the road. Fortunately Britney doesn't do seven shows a week like we were doing, so we have some time in the week to maybe track down a studio and go in and demo some stuff. We just had a little break a little while ago, and we wrote a bunch of songs on the road individually. We go in studios and we try to lay as many as we can down.
Ashley: It's hard to tell, with the stuff we've been coming up with, what will absolutely be on the next album. I think we all have our favorites, and it's still early. We haven't even sat down [and] heard the songs that the others are writing. It'll be difficult because Clive Davis, he's the hitmaker. He's the hit man. He's made it clear: If it's not a hit song, it really, really isn't gonna make the album. So we've been really stretching our writing muscles and growing as writers to try to express what's inside of us so that the fans can get more of a direct relationship with the music, 'cause they know it's coming from us. That's something we want to pride ourselves in. We've been really working hard at it. Hopefully a lot of the stuff we're writing will make the album.
MTV: Can you give us any clues as to what's in store on the new season of "Making the Band"? Do any of you guys get in the director's chair or anything like that?
Jacob: Since the first season, it was pretty much that "Real World" scenario where they just put you in the house, you have no say, you just get followed. So now that we've been doing it for a while, they're definitely giving us more control over when we're getting shot. It's more of us opening up and showing the fans who we are. It can only be to our advantage when we're being real. We like those moments when the camera is just there, and they've caught us writing music, actually sitting down and writing and trying to be creative while the camera is there, and then recording and having conversations with Clive about the album. It's gonna be very real. Now that we're on MTV, we have the opportunity to show a little bit more about who we are in our third season.
MTV: You really do have some dedicated and loyal fans. To what do you credit that devotion?
Ashley: It's because of Clive Davis and the songs that we've had out on the radio and the relationship that we've been able to build with the fans because of "Making the Band." That's really been such an in with us to show the public and to show people from a wide variety of ages who we really are, immediately. It's not like you're reading a magazine article. It's more than just seeing someone in concert. It's a series about your personal life. I think a lot of the fans connected with us from the very beginning, and that's the reason why. It just seems like there's these legions of fans that had to stay loyal to us from the very beginning, and it's growing.
Jacob: I think every artist out there loves their fans, and they have fans for different reasons. A lot of fans just have that connection with artists where they listen to their music and they come to their shows 'cause they appreciate their music and their music moves them. You can't help but love it. But our fans are there for a whole new reason. They've watched the show. They feel personally connected. Some fans come and they're like, "Yeah, I've been watching you guys on TV for so long, I wanted to come and see you in concert." They bought the record 'cause they watched us, and they really feel like they know us. It's a different connection.
I don't think any band's been this exposed this quickly and to more than just their music and what they listen to and what they write. It's our personal lives. You've met our mothers. You've met our families and our girlfriends on TV. And the fans are still there, sleeping in the streets to get into our shows, and you cannot help but applaud that dedication to a band. We really appreciate it. The only reason why we're still around is because of them. They requested our music when critics and people wanted it to go away. They were still there requesting it, regardless, and it just goes to show you make it because of the fans.
MTV: Is there anything you want to say to your fans directly?
Jacob: Well, I want to say that we really have given a lot of ourselves to them through the show, and the only thing that we hope is that they get a lot out of it, that they learn from it. That they take our experiences and realize we're just like them. We're them at home wishing to be where they see everybody on TV. I was sitting at home watching Michael Jackson videos saying, "I wanna be like him. I wanna be dancing onstage" and all this. They've kinda seen us before, when we were in that position. I just want to say thank you to them for sticking around and watching us and sharing our lives, and I hope they stick around and continue.
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